It what must be deemed sensational news, yesterday German president Joachim Gauck warned that widespread US surveillance of European communications poses a danger to democracy.
President Gauck is from East Germany. He was involved in the demonstrations leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall and from 1990 until 2000 he was in charge of the former Stasi files.
Yesterday he said: "To be honest, I have considered whether I can still telephone or mail openly.
"I do it, but I never would have thought that the fear could arise again in Germany, that private communication is no longer possible."
He also said that Edward Smowden's decision to go public deserves respect.
"Whoever makes this information public for reasons of conscience deserves respect."
These are truly incredible words coming from the President of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The Germans are sensitive of state surveillance, Mr Gauck said, becasue of their experience of secret police in nazi germany and then in East Germany.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Featured Post
RTÉ’s Tommy Tiernan Show at its best
The Three guests on RTÉ’s Tommy Tiernan Show on Saturday night were Martin O’Neill, Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Marti Pellow. Jocelyn Bell Burn...
-
Benedict Gerard Hegarty was Fr Benedict Hegarty OP born in Passage West, Co Cork on February 13, 1937. He attended Christian Brothers Colleg...
-
John O’Rourke was born in Newry on November 14, 1939. He joined the Dominican Order in September 1958 and was ordained a priest in July 1965...
-
Below is the response from the United States Episcopal Church to President Donald Trump’s apology demand from the bishop on X. It's qui...
No comments:
Post a Comment